T for Tuesday

 T Stands For is hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard

One of my lasting memories of Istanbul was having mid-morning tea after a rainy morning.

This is my favourite photo.

I used Lunapic to make these. This one is my favourite.

Çamlıca Hill is in Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey. Situated on the Asian part of the city at 268 m (879 ft) above sea level, Çamlıca Hill has a panoramic view of the southern part of Bosphorus and the mouth of Golden Horn.

The bridge that takes you from Europe to Asia!

The hill is a popular visitor attraction. There are historical-designed teahouses, cafes and a restaurant inside a public park with monumental trees, flower gardens and fountains, run by the Metropolitan Municipality.

It was November so the gardens and trees were bare.

Tea Time

Requisite photos.

Why are we/the women posed like that, with the hand on the hip? 

Before Istanbul we were in Greece and our tour group was bigger. Among that group was an attractive woman, Grace, who didn't mix with any of us. However, we all noticed and laughed among ourselves as she posed again and again at every single sight we saw. And she always posed sideways with her hand on her hip. 

She was one of those who always jumped in front of everyone, she posed in front of the Acropolis, the Pantheon, Delphi, the incredible monasteries of Meteora, it didn't matter, there she was.

Ten years later, and John still says "is that your GRACE pose?".

Tuesday Treasures Around the World

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.
Travel Tuesday
Our World Tuesday
Image-in-ing
My Corner of the World


November 2010 - Istanbul Turkey

I love nothing more than a market, anywhere in the world.

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The Spice Bazaar (Turkish: Mısır Çarşısı, meaning "Egyptian Bazaar") in Istanbul is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Located in the Eminönü quarter of the Fatih district, it is the most famous covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar.

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The word mısır has a double meaning in Turkish: "Egypt" and "maize". This is why sometimes the name is wrongly translated as "Corn Bazaar". The bazaar was (and still is) the center for spice trade in Istanbul, but in recent years shops of other types are gradually replacing the sellers of spices.

The building itself is part of the külliye (complex) of the New Mosque. The revenues obtained from the rented shops inside the bazaar building were used for the upkeeping of the mosque.

Spice Bazaar has a total of 85 shops selling spices, Turkish delight and other sweets, jewellery, souvenirs, and dried fruits and nuts.

How To Spice Up Your Life

Six Word Saturday

November 2010 - Istanbul Turkey

Flavour

Where's My Backpack Travel Theme - Flavour

My first thought for this challenge was Turkey and I will focus on Istanbul.

First we'll fortify ourselves with tea.

Then we'll go to the Spice Bazaar.

inSPIREd Sunday

Sally and Beth host inSPIREd Sunday! Sundays in my City My Sunday Photo


November 2010 - Istanbul Turkey

Amazing, that I have never posted this for inSPIREd Sunday.

Click here to see the day's events.

Info garnered from the BBC.
Of Istanbul’s many ancient wonders, the most famed is Hagia Sophia. The building has served as a museum for the past 77 years and, prior to that, was a religious centre for Istanbul and the wider world for more than 1,400 years. It began as a church in 537 under the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, eager to go one up on his Roman antecedents by building a structure on an unprecedented scale. Entering the completed church, he modestly remarked, ‘Oh Solomon! I have outdone you.’

It was still the largest building in the world when Ottoman Turks set about converting it into a mosque after capturing Istanbul from the Byzantines in 1453, and formed a blueprint for its famous neighbour, the Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sophia’s greatest architectural legacy is its revolutionary dome – intended to be bigger, taller and more impressive than any other dome that had gone before it – although construction took something of a trial and error format, with one total collapse after an earthquake in 558. Now supported by 40 ribs, the dome is fittingly inscribed with the Light Verse from the Koran: ‘Allah is the light of the heavens and the Earth.’

I must say it is certainly impressive, the more so when you consider how old it is.

The Hagia Sophia may no longer be a place of worship, but one superstition – allegedly dating back to the days of Justinian I – lives on. Legend has it that if you stick your thumb into a small hole in a copper facing of the ‘weeping column’ and your thumb emerges moist, you’ll be cured of all your ailments.

The upper gallery houses Hagia Sophia’s most impressive mosaics, among them that of Empress Zoe, an 11th century Byzantine. First married aged 50, Zoe had three husbands, famously marrying her courtier the day that the first passed away (he was said to have been poisoned). The mosaic was tactfully altered with the arrival of each new husband.